Share

Editor’s Note: Thanksgiving is the time for a traditional meal… but it’s not the only traditional meal that turns up in the fall in the midwest. In parts of Wisconsin with Nordic heritage, lutefisk suppers centered around that famously pungent form of air-dried, lye-cured fish are still common, and one of the most popular is at Vermont Lutheran Church in Black Earth, a half hour west of Madison. Chicago food historian Peter Engler invites us inside that alternative fall tradition, where volunteers prepare and serve over 1000 pounds of traditionally-cured cod to the sold-out crowd in the church basement. His photos and descriptions begin below.